The Madman and the Rebel
by PrincessDaydream77
Summary: Crossover Downton Abbey/Doctor Who. What if the Doctor visited Downton Abbey, in search of a new companion. What happens when he meets the rebellious Sybil Crawley? Set from 1902 to 1914. AU. No Sybil/Branson, no Amy.
1. The Madman of Christmas Night

The Madman and the Rebel

Summary : Crossover (Downton Abbey/Doctor Who). What if the Doctor visited Downton Abbey, in search of a new companion. What happens when he meets the rebellious Sybil Crawley? Set from 1903 to 1914. No Sybil/Branson, no Amy.

Disclaimer : All Doctor Who characters belong to the BBC. All Downton Abbey characters belong to ITV and Julian Fellowes. All plot-lines belong to me.

Chapter One

1903

The TARDIS was malfunctioning. It was out of control! The Doctor had no idea where he was going, but he didn't like the look of the engine. He had to land soon, or it would blow up! He pulled on the brakes and began to land, though he had to admit, he didn't know where he was going or when, for that matter. He just hoped it wasn't dangerous.

CRASH! The Doctor fell to the floor with the force of the landing. As he regained his composure, he strode towards the door and flung it open. After over 900 years and eleven different faces, you'd think he would have learnt to check where he was before striding out. That was what most people say to him, though he has never listened to them and never plans to. He contradicted himself for several minutes, until he ran into a small girl.

"Oh, 'ello, what's your name?"

"Sybil, Sybil Persephone Crawley, _monsieur._"

"Well, Sybil Persephone Crawley, I'm the Doctor."

"Pardon me, sir, but Doctor who?"

"I get asked that a lot, but the answer is...the Doctor, just the Doctor."

"That's a strange name."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Now, Sybil, could you please tell me where we are?"

"Downton Abbey, of course."

"Right, of course, where's that?"

"Yorkshire, sir."

"Right and what year is it?"

"Beg pardon, _monsieur_, but how is it that you can come to a place and not have a clue where it is, or even the date?"

"I'm funny like that."

"In answer to your question, _monsieur_, it is December 25th, in the year of our Lord 1903."

"Right, thank you. Right, merry Christmas, goodbye."

"But _monsieur_, where are you going?"

"I have to go now, Sybil, but I'll be right back, okay?"

"Promise?"

"Five minutes."

"Alright. Goodbye, _monsieur._"

"See you in five minutes!"

With that, the Doctor disappeared down a corridor, unaware that the small girl was following him. She watched in sadness and slight confusion as he entered a large blue police box, but her expression quickly turned to one of awe and amazement as the box began to disappear carrying the strange man with it.

"Five minutes." the little girl repeated aloud to herself, then sunk down to the floor and began to wait. She waited and waited. And waited. But he never came. She soon found herself succumbing to the dark clutches of sleep and when she awoke, she was in her bed, her mother looking over her worriedly.

"Sybil? Oh, Sybil, thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried!"

"I'm fine, mama. But guess what!"

"What?"

"I met a man in the corridor, he was magic, he's my best friend now. He was very strange, but so nice and so clever. He disappeared in his magic box and he's going to back to get me and we're going to explore the stars together."

"Darling...did you hit your head when you fell?"

"I'm not lying! He's going to come and get me!"

"Darling, don't be rude, I'm on your side."

"NO, YOU'RE NOT! Otherwise, you would help me find him!"

"Darling, it was just a dream. Now, come, we have to join your father and sisters for breakfast."

"Alright, mama."

Her mother enfolded her in her arms and lifted her out of bed.

"Come on, darling."

She took her mother's hand and began to walk downstairs with her, trying to ignore the doubting voice in her head, wondering if she had been dreaming after all.


	2. Twelve Years, Six Months, Five Minutes

Chapter Two

1912

Sybil Crawley had flourished into a beautiful, talented and compassionate young woman. She took less notice of the social divide than her sisters, much to her grandmother's dismay, making very good friends of Mrs Hughes (the Housekeeper), Anna (the Head Housemaid and the unofficial Lady's Maid of the three girls) and Daisy (the Kitchen Maid and the only member of staff of her own age). She also talked a lot with William (the Second Footman), who had a brilliant sense of humour, when not under the close scrutiny of the butler, Mr Carson or the First Footman, Thomas, who she thought had a face like a back-handed behind when he wasn't plotting with her mother's Lady's Maid, Miss O'Brien, who shared his likeness for causing misery within other's lives.

She never now thought of the strange man who had appeared in the corridor on Christmas Eve night, nor of the promise he made to return. It was only when she returned to her bedroom after a day's riding that she even remembered that he existed.

When she entered the room, she was shocked to see a man in a ragged suit staring out of her window. She picked up a vase from her desk and hit the man over the head with it, shards of patterned ceramic flying in all directions. He fell to the floor, unconcious and she took a few silk scarves from her chest of drawers and used them to tie the strange man to her bedpost.

A couple of hours had passed when the strange man awoke to find himself tied up in what looked to be a woman's bedroom. And there was the woman.

"Where am I?" asked the strange man.

"Downton Abbey."

"I know that...where in Downton Abbey?"

"It's not important. I've summoned the police. They'll be here momentarily. You are breaking and entering, which is, as I am certain that you are aware, a criminal offence."

"Yeah. I was looking for a girl. Small girl, brown hair. Sybil."

The woman turned in shock to look the man right in the eye.

"Sybil Crawley?"

"Yes. What happened to her? Is she alright?"

"Sybil Crawley hasn't lived here in a lengthy amount of time."

"How long?"

"Six months."

The man laughed, an equal balance of amusement and disbelief.

"Noooooooooooooo, no. I can't be six months late, I said five minutes."

The conversation went on and on until the young woman finally decided to liberate the madman. It was only when passing a piece of architecture that the man realised her deception.

"Hang on, this piece was new here last time I came. But it's old now. At least ten...no, twelve years old. I'm not six months late, I'm twelve years late. Why did you say six months?"

"We have to go."

"Why did you say six months?"

"Come on."

"No, I don't understand. Why did you say six months?"

"WELL WHY DID YOU SAY FIVE MINUTES?" screamed the girl, whipping round to face him.

"You?" gaped the Doctor.

"Yes, it's me. I'm Sybil Crawley and you're late."

It was a shaky start to a beautiful friendship.


	3. Acquiring Tastes and Requiring Knowledge

Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks to my brilliant reviewers so far, Syblime, ukaladydrumgrrl and loulouflowergirl.

The pair were soon running, hand-in-hand, just as they had done in so many of Sybil's dreams for the twelve years that they had been parted.

"Where are we going?" cried Sybil, laughing a little as the madman jumped down across a river, then reached over to lift her across.

"I haven't got a clue!" cried the man in response.

"Then why are we running?!" she yelled above the noise of rushing wind in her ears, trying desperately to keep up with the man, lest he disappear once again.

"Running's great!" he yelled back. "Great way to get the adrenaline pumping, love a good run, who doesn't love a good run! Are those petunias?" he asked suddenly, stopping at the flowerbed, causing Sybil to almost run right into his back.

"You're absolutely mad!" gasped Sybil, her throat burning as she tried to regain her breath.

"I know!" cried the man in response. "I get that a lot. Just because I like fish fingers and custard."

"I tried that once as a child." said Sybil, looking at the flowers as she reminisced.

"Did you?" The man looked up in genuine interest, waiting for the answer.

"Yes, I did. I tried dipping salmon into the crème anglaise, but Mama told me off terribly and I had no pudding for a month. I never tried it again after that, it was vile."

"It's an acquired taste!" defended the man, his arms crossing over his chest as he pouted comically, causing Sybil to burst out laughing.

"One that I have not personally acquired, thank goodness." she retorted, her cheerful laughs slightly distorting the words. The man still remained pouting at this point and remained so for long after. Eventually, Sybil could stand it no longer and asked the quesion burned into the back of her mind for so long.

"Doctor?"

"Yep?"

"Why didn't you come back for me?" A slight sense of relief washed over Sybil, as if a large weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but also accompanied by a sense of dread that his answer would be that he had simply forgotten about her, as she had assumed long ago. The pout on his face disappeared immediately, replaced with only a serious expression. A long silence followed afterwards.

"I don't know." The Doctor eventually answered, his gaze directed to the grass.

"You forgot about me, didn't you?" Sybil sighed in sadness. Her tone showed that the sentence was less a question than a statement of truth. The Doctor's head snapped upwards to face the young woman, his mouth and eyes both wide open.

"Sybil Persephone Crawley, I never forgot about you. Not for a single moment."

"Then why didn't you come back? Truly, now." she asked again. The man sighed.

"Because I honestly thought that you would be better to get on with your life without me holding you back."

"You never held me back. You were the magical man I met in the corridor on Christmas Eve night, a madman who spoke of the stars. You weren't the person who held me back, Doctor, you were the person who taught me to fly. And no-one can ever ground me now."

"That's the girl I know." The Doctor commented fondly, placing a quick kiss on Sybil's forehead before taking the woman's hand and pulling her up before beginning to walk towards the distant trees.

"Doctor, where are you going?" Sybil asked, suddenly extremely nervous. The madman whipped right around, his loose tie flying in the wind.

"You said that you couldn't be grounded, Sybil. So it's time for you to fly."

A/N: Not sure how good this chapter is, but I hope you like it nonetheless. Please review!


	4. Time to Fly Away

Chapter Four

A/N: Thanks to my great reviewer, Guest.

It was still practically unbelievable to Sybil that the wonders that her childhood memory had brought to her life. In the mere few hours he had been returned to her, the madman who had changed her view of what was possible and what was not, the latter now very limited after his teachings.

The Doctor, after running for several minutes, halted outside the door of a large blue wooden box, large enough to hold only two grown men at any one time, albeit in uncomfortably close proximity. Nevertheless, the raggedy-clothed man slipped inside the box with ease and Sybil, being the inquisitive young woman she was, followed suit, stepping straight into the unknown.

The first thing that she noticed was the light. It was very bright, almost so blindingly so that Sybil instinctively raised her right hand to shield her eyes. When she decided to brave the light and pulled her hand away, she was met with a dazzling red glow so bright that she almost reverted back to her original position, but did not, deciding that the slight squint she had had to adopt was worth the sight that was coming into focus.

In the centre of the glow was some sort of machine, though it was unlike any machine that Sybil had ever seen before. It was coughing, spluttering and making a racket, almost as if it were actually alive. To the little surprise of the Doctor, Sybil gasped.

"It's good, isn't it?" the madman smiled.

"It's astounding!" Sybil exclaimed in response.

"I know!" the Doctor answered, his enthusiasm equaling that of the young woman stood in the doorway.

No longer at all fearful of the machine, Sybil took a small step forward towards it. She paused after that first step, as if to ascertain the results, before taking several more, her pace quickening with each. She stopped barely a moment later, when the top of her shin collided with the edge of the alien console. She then began to circle it, running her hand over the many different buttons and levers, trying to take it all in.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life. Wherever did you get it?"

"I got it… a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." the Doctor replied, raising his eyebrows slightly as he remembered the origins of the words he had spoken. "It's been a long time since I coined that phrase."

Slightly confused as to what he was actually talking about, Sybil returned to moving around the console, every so often pausing at a particular part and bending down to examine the device more closely.

"It must have cost you thousands of pounds." Sybil mused, admiring the technology. She had seen the engine of a car once before, while crouching in the garages during a game of hide and seek with Patrick, but nothing this extravagant, technical and, to tell the truth, rather beautiful.

"Actually, it didn't cost me anything." the raggedy man replied, omitting the fact that he had stolen the machine many years ago, just because he'd wanted to get away and no one was watching.

"Well, even so… it's just beautiful."

"Yeah. That I'll agree on." the Doctor told her, nodding his head in agreement.

"So… when you said that, that it was time for me to fly… what exactly did you mean?" Sybil asked, stumbling over her words, most uncharacteristically for such a strong worded young woman.

"Well… this box, this engine, is… a time machine. It can fly to anywhere in time and space. It can fly back to the creation of Earth and forwards to the end of time and still have you home for tea." the madman stopped when he saw that Sybil was standing by his side, gaping and switching her gaze rapidly between him and the machine. "Are you frightened?"

"No." the youngest Crawley responded swiftly, though she did not look quite convinced with the words, even as she spoke. "Why? Should I be?"

"Well… it's a dangerous life, you know. It isn't all sightseeing and gazing at sunsets, there are things out there more powerful than you can imagine. They aren't all friendly and polite."

"Neither are all the people in this world. It doesn't make much of a difference to me." Sybil told the madman, boldly taking a step forward and tilting her head to the side, a daring smirk lighting up her features.

"That's a point of view that the average person wouldn't normally consider accurate." the Doctor replied to Sybil, his tone both pleased and challenging in equal measures.

"And what gives you the impression that I am the average person?" the youngest Crawley shot back, raising her eyebrows at the joyful grin that surfaced on the man's lips.

"I don't expect you to be." he answered.

"Well, then we're agreed. I have no fear of the outside world, and you seem to be lonely. So… why not teach me how to fly?"

The man needed no more convincing and began to run around the marvellous machine, tapping buttons and levers to get them to where they needed to go. Sybil was suddenly a little fearful, not knowing how the machine would fly, as she realised that this truly was real.

"Where are we going?" she asked, crying out a little in surprise as the floor began to shake and the 'box' shifted violently from side to side.

"You'll find out soon!" came the cryptic reply from the smirking madman, who was still wildly attacking the controls in an obvious attempt to steady the console.

After a few long minutes, the shaking ceased and the room was stilled once more. Her fear now replaced with anticipation, Sybil shared a glance with the Doctor, both of them smiling widely. The Doctor then reached out his hand, which Sybil took gratefully, laughing a little at a familiar routine being used in such an unfamiliar situation.

"Come along, my lady. Time to see where we have flown to."

A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!


	5. The Sea Ship

Chapter Five

A/N: Thanks to Syblime for reviewing.

As they flung open the door of the TARDIS, the pair gasped, Sybil in surprise that they had moved, while the Doctor was surprised at the utter normality of the place. '_This isn't exciting at all_.' he thought, while the woman beside him thought precisely the opposite.

"We've actually moved. We've flown." Sybil breathed, hardly able to believe what her eyes were telling her. It was just astaunding.

"Well, of course we've flown. It's a time travel machine, I'd have to take it back if it didn't do the 'travel' bit!" the Doctor cried, drawing rather more attention to himself than he had desired to from the passers-by. '_Although I should really have taken it back anyway_.' he added in his mind. '_Oh well. It's a little too late now._'

Turning his attentions back to his new companion, the Doctor saw that Sybil had gone. '_Oh, that's just what I need. A wandering Edwardian on my hands!_'

With a sigh of annoyance, the man walked off, wandering aimlessly along the wooden boards of the place he stood. He still didn't know where they had actually landed, he hadn't been concentrating when he had set the controls, but still. She couldn't have gotten far. He hoped.

Luckily for him, he was not disappointed, as he found the young woman leaning against a barrier, the wind rustling through her hair as she watched the sea. '_Oh, so we're on a ship_.' the Doctor thought, lightly interested now. '_I haven't been on a ship in a while. Well, not a sea ship, anyway._'

"Oi! Sybil Persephone Crawley! What are you doing running off like that?" he asked the chestnut haired girl, who merely let out a breezy giggle, reaching a little further out into the sea air. For once, the Time Lord was a little concerned. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be? I've just flown here, in a magic box, with my madman of a childhood imaginary friend, and I'm not even dreaming! It's amazing!" the woman cried, breathing the fresh air deeply into her lungs time and time again.

"I know it is. That's why I'm still here!" the mad man himself exclaimed, his annoyance suddenly dissipating, albeit only momentarily. "Still, get down."

"Alright." Sybil obliged begrudgingly and with a dramatic sigh, leaning backwards onto the ship and stepping back down onto the deck, as she had been stood on the first bar of the barrier to enable herself to reach a little further. "You are absolutely no fun, Doctor Who."

"I've told you, it's just the Doctor." the man instructed the young woman, sighing in annoyance as he repeated something he had said so many times in his life that he had lost count years ago.

"Oh, please accept my most humble apologies, Just the Doctor!" the woman responded, her voice dripping with well-meaning sarcasm, before both she and 'Just the Doctor' burst out into peals of laughter.

Once the laughter had died down, they began to have a serious conversation, something the two of them had never really experienced together.

"So… where are we?" Sybil asked her imaginary madman, a smile lighting up her features.

"We are on a boat, in the middle of a sea, definately on Earth. Other than that, not a clue." he answered, shrugging his shoulders as he took a huge sniff of their surroundings, bringing another wave of laughter crashing over the Crawley.

"Oh, that's useful! All these years of travelling through time and space, all those places you've seen, and we've landed in a place so different that even you can't recognise where we are! You are an utter mystery, sir, or perhaps just not as intelligent as you claim to be!"

"I think I'm offended by that!" the Doctor exclaimed in response, raising his eyebrows briefly as he pouted comically, sending Sybil once again into a fit of laughter.

"Good! I haven't had this much fun in years!" the woman cried out through her laughter, holding her side in an attempt to stop it from splintering from the force of her laughs.

"Fair enough." the Doctor conceded, though his brow furrowed almost immediately, as if he couldn't see why he had said so. "Anyway, I suppose we should find out where the hell we are, then."

"I suppose that may be a good idea." Sybil responded, nodding her head with what seemed to be reluctance, but that was in fact masking huge excitement. She could no longer mask the excitement, however, when the man reached out his hand for hers, as she now knew that it was a signal for them to run. And run they did.

After several minutes, several pit stops and several disgruntled passengers being helped up from the ground, the pair finally ceased their childish antics and paused, having arrived back at the precise spot they had just left.

"We're right back where we began and we still don't have a clue where we are." Sybil pointed out, her voice clearly showing how bored she was, and how much she was wishing to have got back the excitement that she had had when he had arrived for the second time.

"Well, no, but…" the man trailed off, with a tiny sigh so quiet no one but Sybil could have possibly heard it. Still, the fact that she had done was bad enough.

"But what? We don't know where we are. There's nothing more to say really." the girl pointed out once again, turning her head to face the inner deck. That was when she let out a gasp, one much louder than the one the Doctor had given, much to the elder man's glee.

"What is it now?" he asked, his smile audible in his tone.

"Look." was all she responded with, raising a finger to point at the sign on the cabin. It's lettering was not what at all what either of them had expected.

_R.M.S. Titanic._

A/N: Woah! Please review!


	6. Time on Titanic

Chapter Six

A/N: No reviewers.

"Is this the ship that I think it is?" Sybil gasped, her mouth still open wide from the revelation.

"I think it must be. Although, I have been on another _Titanic_ once, and that was based on this one." the Doctor stated, shrugging his shoulders a little. Even the memory was strange for him, as he had been a whole new man back then. Literally so.

"What happened to it?" the young woman questioned him, curiosity and the merest touch of fear mixed in her chestnut eyes. Immediately, the Time Lord regretted ever mentioning the subject.

"It… almost crashed, and killed just about everyone on it." the Doctor admitted, seeming to think that honesty was the best policy to have at that present moment. If he had seen the look it would bring to Sybil's face before he had said it, then he may have rethought.

"And that ship was based on this one?" she asked, the fear quite obvious in her tone now, as it faltered and faded away from her throat.

"Loosely." he reasoned, in an attempt to comfort her.

"How loosely?" she shot back, not caring at all for his efforts.

"Entirely, but that doesn't mean it will happen here." the Doctor felt the lie sting his heart, even as it escaped his mouth. Looking off the ship's deck, you could still just about see land in the distance, though the sight of it was faint. 10th April 1912. In just four days' time, half of everyone on the ship would be dead.

"Doctor?" Sybil asked for the third time, waving her hand in front of the face of the man, who had been unaware of the dazed expression that had adorned his face for the past few moments. He had been completely lost in thought, and had not noticed her first and second attempts to bring him back to reality.

"Sorry, I was thinking." he responded, attempting in futility to convince the woman, although technically, he was telling the truth.

"Well, batten down the hatches, this cannot be good." Sybil told the man, nudging his arm slightly, to prove that she spoke in jest. "What were you thinking about?"

For a moment, the Doctor considered telling her, allowing the young woman to know what would happen in just a few days, but seeing the beaming smile lighting up her features, he could simply not bear to be the cause of the smile fading away.

"Nothing." he answered, with a smile of his own. For a moment, Sybil's eyes narrowed, as if she did not trust his answer, but she let it pass, allowing herself to believe him, for now, at least.

"So? Are we just going to stand here all day?" Sybil asked him, the sarcasm extremely obvious in her usually gentle tone. "Let's go and explore!"

And so they did. The pair had walked together around decks, dining rooms and the driver, or at least the point where the Doctor stated that a 'true ship' would have had one. Sybil disagreed entirely, liking the familiar efficiency of the alternatives to wind power, having been brought up around them for her entire life, though never having travelled on one such ship before.

"It's just as amazing as I thought it would be." Sybil told the man, sighing at the beautiful view that came into sight when they had reached the decks once again. "When our friends told us about the plans for _Titanic_, I thought it would be utterly brilliant. And it is, it really is!"

"I know. All the effort that has gone into this ship, all the people that were attracted to attend on its maiden voyage." the Doctor agreed, another thought swimming its way through the buzz in his mind. '_All that life, gone to waste.'_

"Yes. A couple of my mother's close friends are on the ship today. They were so excited about the voyage when she last spoke to them, and now I can really see why." Sybil commented, raising her arms out in what seemed to be an attempt to catch the sea breeze. Remembering just how worried this had made the Doctor earlier, Sybil retracted her arms after just a minute, leaning back until she was safely back on the deck.

"Thank you for that." he commented, with a slight smile on his face. '_At least she was a little more obedient now than she had once been.'_ he mused, chuckling slightly to himself.

"You're very welcome." she responded, with equal amount of cheek and sarcasm to his.

The pair stood in silence for the next few moments, merely admiring the view of the Atlantic Ocean. It was truly beautiful, if one took time out from the facilities to enjoy the wonders of nature, and Sybil vowed that, should she come on the ship again, she would spend the majority of her time doing so. Unfortunately for these plans, there was a strange feeling from somewhere deep inside of her that she would not return to _Titanic._

"Now you're daydreaming!" the madman beside her exclaimed, with a playful jab to her arm. "It isn't just me after all."

"I was thinking about something rather more important than fish fingers and custard." the young woman shot back, a tiny quip of annoyance in her voice.

"And what would that be? Hair, nails, a new gown you've left in your wardrobe back at the Abbey?" The man was truly jesting with her now, and Sybil knew as much, but she still felt another stab of annoyance hit her squarely in the chest as he did so.

However, that annoyance lasted for merely a second, as, out of the corner of her eye, Sybil spotted someone she would not have expected to see on the boat. Or rather, two people.

At precisely the same moment, the pair of men turned, a look of shocked happiness mirrored across both of their faces.

"Sybil?" they asked, in near unison.

"Cousin James? Cousin Patrick?"

A/N: Please review!


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